Album Review: Beach Fossils - 'The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads'

Beach Fossils’ latest release, The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, is less an album than a radical reimagining of their back catalogue. According to lead singer Dustin Payseur, frequent Beach Fossils collaborator Tommy Gardner, who played with the band for several years, always had an incredible knack for reworking their songs in a jazz style.

“For years I had the idea of turning these piano versions of Beach Fossils songs into an album, and in 2020 when touring came to a sudden halt due to Covid, I reached out to Gardner and asked if he wanted to finally make this album”, said Payseur. And thus, The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads came into being.

I know what you’re probably thinking. “Beach Fossils? Jazz reworks? Piano ballads? I’m not convinced.” That was my initial reaction too. But, for the most part, it works. The imaginative adaptations are recognisable as the Beach Fossils we know and love, but the sumptuous lo-fi jazz stylings breathe new life into them. The overlap between indie rock and cool jazz is pretty minimal, on the whole. But Payseur and Gardner manage to find enough common ground in this release to put together a cohesive and rewarding record.

Henry Kwapis’ feather-brushed drums and Gardner’s meandering double bass provide an enticingly woozy backdrop for Payseur’s breathy harmonies. The strident piano-led compositions cultivate an evocative atmosphere that stretches across the album, although there’s still room for standout tracks like “This Year” and “Sleep Apnea”.

Some of the tracks blend into each other a little but, on the whole, they manage to stay on the right side of the elevator music paradigm.

The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads is a rich and rewarding collection of reimagined old tunes that will bemuse and delight Beach Fossils fans, best enjoyed in an armchair by the fireplace with an Old Fashioned in hand.

Words by Dylan Wilby

---